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DECISION

Decision No. 2351/QD-TTg of December 24, 2010, approving the 2011-2020 national strategy for gender equality

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the November 29, 2006 Law on Gender Equality;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 70/2008/ND-CP of June 4, 2008, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Gender Equality;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 48/2009/ND-CP of May 19, 2009, prescribing measures to ensure gender equality;

Pursuant to the Political Bureau’s Resolution No. 11/NQ-TW of April 27, 2007, on women-related activities in the period of accelerated national industrialization and modernization;

Pursuant to the Government’s Resolution No. 57/NQ-CP of December 1, 2009, promulgating the Government’s action program towards 2020 for materialization of the Political Bureau’s Resolution No. 11/NQ-TW of April 27, 2007, on women-related activities in the period of accelerated national industrialization and modernization;

At the proposal of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the 2011-2020 national strategy for gender equality with the following principal contents:

1. Viewpoints

a) The national strategy for gender equality is an important component of the national socio-economic development strategy and serves as a foundation of the human resource development strategy of the Party and the State. Gender equality work is a basic element for raising the quality of life of every person, every family and the entire society.

b) To enhance the leadership and direction of the Party Committees and administrations at all levels, the coordination of socio-political organizations, social organizations, socio-political-professional organizations, economic organizations and non-business units, and the participation of every individual, every family and the whole community in gender equality activities. To mobilize to the utmost resources for effective gender equality activities.

2. Objectives of the strategy

a) General objectives:

Basically by 2020, to ensure substantive equality between men and women in opportunity, participation and benefits in the political, economic, cultural and social domains, contributing to fast and sustainable national development.

b) Specific objectives:

* Objective 1: To intensify women’s holding of managerial and leading positions, aiming to gradually narrow gender gap in the political domain

- Target 1: To strive for the percentage of 25% or higher of women participating in Party committees in the 2016-2020 tenure; the percentage of 30% or higher of female deputies to the National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels in the 2011-2015 term and over 35% in the 2016-2020 term.

- Target 2: To strive for the targets that by 2015, 80% and by 2020, over 95% of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and People’s Committees at all levels will have female leaders.

- Target 3: To strive for the targets that by 2015, 70% and by 2020, 100% of Party and State agencies and socio-political organizations with the number of female cadres, civil servants and public employees making up 30% or higher will have women holding key leading positions.

* Objective 2: To narrow gender gap in the economic, labor and employment domains; to increase access of rural poor women and ethnic minority women to economic resources and labor market

- Target 1: Annually, at least 40% of the total number of people given new jobs will be assured for each sex (male and female).

- Target 2: The rate of female entrepreneurs will reach 30% by 2015 and 35% or higher by 2020.

- Target 3: The rate of female rural laborers who are aged under 45 and vocationally trained will reach 25% by 2015 and 50% by 2020.

- Target 4: The rate of poor female laborers in rural areas or ethnic minority regions who wish to borrow preferential capital from employment or poverty reduction programs and official credit sources will reach 80% by 2015 and 100% by 2020.

* Objective 3: To raise the quality of female human resources, gradually ensuring equal participation between men and women in the education and training domain

- Target 1: The rate of literate men and women aged between 15 and 40 in deep-lying, remote, ethnic minority and extreme difficulty-hit regions will reach 90% by 2015 and 95% by 2020.

- Target 2: The rate of women holding master degree will reach 40% by 2015 and 50% by 2020. The rate of women holding doctorate degree will reach 20% by 2015 and 25% by 2020.

* Objective 4: To ensure gender equality in access to and benefit from healthcare services

- Target 1: The ratio of infants will not exceed 113 male infants/100 female infants by 2015 and 115)100 by 2020.

- Target 2: To reduce the maternal mortality rate to 58.3/100,000 live births by 2015 and below 52/100,000 live births by 2020.

- Target 3: To raise the percentage of pregnant women having access to services of medical care and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission to 40% by 2015 and 50% by 2020 as compared to 2010.

- Target 4: To reduce the abortion rate to 27/100 live births by 2015 and below 25/100 by 2020.

* Objective 5: To ensure gender equality in the cultural and information domain

- Target 1: Cultural and information products bearing gender prejudice will drop by 60% by 2015 and 80% by 2020. To increase the broadcasting time volume of specialized programs and sections and the volume of products on gender equality propaganda and education.

- Target 2: 90% by 2015 and 100% by 2020 of central and local radio and television stations will have specialized programs and sections to raise public awareness about gender equality.

* Objective 6: To ensure gender equality in family life, incrementally eliminating gender-based violence

- Target 1: To shorten women’s time of involvement in household duties by two times by 2015 and 1.5 times by 2020 as compared to men’s.

- Target 2: The rate of detected domestic violence victims rendered with legal and health counseling, support and care at domestic violence victim-assisting establishments will reach 40% by 2015 and 50% by 2020. The rate of detected domestic violence perpetrator counseling at domestic violence counseling establishments will reach 70% by 2015 and 85% by 2020.

- Target 3: By 2015 towards 2020, 100% of human trafficking victims will return through handover and rescue, and 100% of such victims who return by themselves and are detected will be entitled to support and community integration services.

* Objective 7: To enhance capacity of gender equality state management

- Target 1: 80% by 2015 and 100% by 2020 of legal drafts will be determined as having contents related to gender equality or gender inequality or discrimination.

- Target 2: By 2015 and towards 2020, 100% of members of the committees for drafting or teams for editing legal documents with contents related to gender equality or gender inequality or discrimination will be trained in gender knowledge, analysis and incorporation.

- Target 3: By 2015 and towards 2020, provinces and centrally run cities will have adequate gender equality cadres; and establish a contingent of collaborators and volunteers participating in gender-equality and women’s advancement activities.

- Target 4: By 2015 and towards 2020, 100% of gender equality and women’s advancement cadres at all levels and in all sectors will be professionally trained at least once.

3. Major solutions to the strategy implementation

a) General solutions:

- To enhance the leadership, direction and inspection of gender equality activities by Party committees and administrations at all levels. To raise capacity of gender equality state management. To complete the system of policies and laws on gender equality. To incorporate gender equality into legal drafts with contents related to gender equality or gender inequality or discrimination. To include gender equality in the formulation and implementation of action programs or plans of ministries or sectors as well as socio-economic development strategies, planning and plans of localities. To increase the inspection and evaluation of the implementation of the law on gender equality. To build an inter-sector coordination mechanism for the effective realization of gender equality.

- To strongly step up information, propaganda, popularization and education in order to raise the awareness of cadres, civil servants, public employees, laborers and people about gender equality.

- To formulate and implement the national program on gender equality in the 2011-2015 and 2016-2020 periods with a view to assisting ministries, sectors and localities in dealing with key matters of gender equality.

- To develop systems of quality services aiming to support women-men equality in opportunity, participation and benefits in various aspects of the social life. To intensify the socialization and inter-sector coordination in the organization of gender equality-related activities.

- To mobilize and efficiently use financial resources for gender equality activities; to spend state budget funds for gender equality activities according to current state budget decentralization; to prioritize resources for sectors, regions and areas where exists gender inequality or high risk of gender inequality, rural areas, poor regions and mountainous areas in which still exist backward customs and practices, as well as ethnic minority regions.

- To promote research into gender equality in various domains. To create a database of gender equality to serve gender equality research and policymaking. To formulate a set of indicators for supervision and evaluation of the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality.

- To step up multilateral and bilateral international cooperation on gender equality.

b) Specific solutions:

* Group of solutions for achieving Objective 1:

- To scrutinize the Party’s and the State’s regulations on training, retraining, promotion, appointment and retirement age ranges. To determine irrationalities and disadvantages against women upon the implementation of these regulations for amendment and supplementation in line with the Law on Gender Equality.

- To work out long-term plans on female managers and leaders with specific criteria and implementation solutions.

- To enhance propaganda on gender equality in the mass media in order to raise the awareness about women-related work, contributing to eliminating prejudices and improper perceptions of the roles of men and women in family and society. To diversify images of women with different roles and occupations and professions.

- To intensify the inspection and examination of the implementation of legal provisions on gender equality, primarily those on training, retraining, promotion and appointment age ranges.

- Ministries, sectors and localities will continue experimenting examinations for recruitment of leading titles, drawing experiences and initiatives related to raising the rate of female leaders and managers.

- To support the raising of capacity for young female leaders through capacity building programs and projects.

* Group of solutions for achieving Objective 2:

- To reduce employment access expenses and job-seeking time of laborers through building a system of information on labor market, employment counselling and investment opportunities. To build gender-based databases on labor market and vocational training. To work out specific measures to promote investment in the provision at affordable charges of truthful and updated information on labor market, investment market, financial market, etc.

- To further improve policies and broaden types of social insurance beneficiaries, particularly new laborers; to apply measures to meet women’s and men’s aspirations to participate in voluntary insurance and unemployment insurance, paying attention to vulnerable groups (itinerant laborers, poor laborers in rural areas and ethnic minority regions).

- To ensure conditions for women to have full and equal access to economic resources (such as cultivation land, credit sources, market information, law and policy information) and enjoy equality in opportunity to participate in production and business.

- Vocational training policies and programs should focus on rural areas and ethnic minority regions; attract more female laborers; raise job skills, ways of managing and developing handicraft and cottage industries, agricultural product processing, consumer goods production as well as developing production and daily-life services for rural population. To adopt policies to support establishments providing vocational training for rural labor, especially those attracting many female laborers.

- To ensure that state-funded agricultural, fishery and forestry extension activities attract many female trainees. To determine and achieve the targets on females in training for people in rural and outlying areas, ethnic minority regions, assisting them in technical applications in order to raise the quality and competitiveness of their agricultural and processed products.

- To intensify the implementation of policies towards female laborers with a view to ensuring efficiency and fairness in policies of vocational training, social insurance, labor protection and retirement regimes.

* Group of solutions for achieving Objective 3:

- To include gender equality contents in the curricula of the national education system, especially at upper secondary, lower secondary and primary education levels. To include gender contents in programs on state management training and advanced political theory training, aiming to raise the awareness of key leaders.

- To adopt peculiar policies towards a number of target groups: Policies and programs on scholarships for girls and women pursuing study to heighten their qualifications, especially policies to encourage girls and women in rural areas as well as ethnic minority regions; peculiar policies on preschool education in deep-lying, remote and difficulty-hit regions; policies to attract male preschool and primary school teachers.

- To scrutinize for elimination messages and images bearing gender bias in the current system of textbooks.

- To incorporate gender matters in policies, programs and plans of the education sector; to establish gender- and nationality-based databases at all educational levels and grades.

* Group of solutions for achieving Objective 4:

- To further provide reproductive and sexual healthcare services for women and men. Especially to provide flexible, accessible and free-of-charge reproductive healthcare services for women and men in ethnic minority regions.

- To expand networks of reproductive healthcare counseling for men. To intensify the training of specialized andrology physicians at provincial-level general hospitals.

- To intensify communications activities, aiming to raise the awareness of reproductive health and sexual health for women and men. To intensify men’s participation in the implementation of family planning measures. To expand communication activities for minors about sexual health and safe contraception.

- To incorporate gender issues in policies, programs and plans of the health sector.

* Group of solutions for achieving Objective 5:

- To raise the gender awareness of manufacturers of cultural and information products. To delete gender bias messages and images in cultural and information products.

- To intensify gender propaganda and education in the mass media in diverse and flexible forms suitable to each target group and each region.

- To regularly monitor and inspect cultural and information activities and products from the gender perspective.

* Group of solutions for achieving Objective 6:

- To step up the building of cultured families, laying stress on criteria of gender equality in families.

- To attach importance to building models of clubs of happy, equal and violence-free families, attracting men’s active participation in such activities.

- To build and experiment gender-based violence and human trafficking prevention and control counseling and support models; to widely develop successful models.

* Group of solutions for achieving Objective 7:

- To arrange sufficient gender equality cadres at all levels; to form a contingent of collaborators and volunteers participating in gender equality and women’s advancement activities, especially in villages, hamlets and street quarters. To build up networks of gender specialists in all domains of the social life.

- To train gender analysis, assessment and incorporation skills for cadres and civil servants participating in making socio-economic development policies and plans. To organize training in gender, gender analysis and incorporation for members of committees and teams drafting legal documents related to gender equality or gender inequality or gender discrimination.

4. Strategy implementation stages:

a) Stage I (2011-2015):

- To increase the efficiency of state management of gender equality.

- To intensify propaganda and education activities in order to raise awareness about gender equality.

- To organize activities of supporting and promoting the incorporation of gender issues in the formulation and implementation of policies, laws, programs and projects of ministries, sectors and localities.

- To organize activities in support of gender equality in a number of domains and regions where exist big gaps in gender equality.

- To build a number of pilot gender equality models. To establish databases of gender equality; to formulate sets of indicators on supervision and evaluation of the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality.

- To organize preliminary review and mid-term evaluation of the strategy implementation.

b) Stage II (2016-2020):

- On the basis of preliminary review and mid-term evaluation of the strategy implementation at Stage I (2011-2015), to adjust policies and apply comprehensive measures to successfully achieve the objectives of the strategy. To concentrate human resources on activities determined as facing numerous difficulties in the strategy implementation process at Stage I.

- To widely develop good models and continue building new models of gender equality.

- To efficiently tap and use databases on gender equality in service of policy making.

- To intensify the sharing of information, experiences, interesting innovations and effective models on gender equality.

- To conduct final review and evaluation of the strategy implementation.

5. Projects under the strategy:

- Project on communication to raise gender equality awareness and change of gender equality behaviors.

- Project on raising capacity and effectiveness of state management of gender equality.

- Project on raising capacity for female deputies to the National Assembly and People’s Councils at various levels, managers and leaders at various levels; female candidates to the National Assembly or People’s Councils at all levels in the 2016-2020 term, and planned potential female cadres.

- Project to support the realization of gender equality in various domains, sectors, regions and localities where exists gender inequality or high risk of gender inequality.

- Project to support the formulation and development of gender equality counseling and assistance services.

Article 2. Organization of the strategy implementation

1. The Ministry of Labor. War Invalids and Social Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, concerned ministries and sectors, the Women’s Union Central Committee and socio-political organizations and provincial-level People’s Committees in, organizing the strategy implementation nationwide, ensuring close association with relevant strategies implemented by other ministries or sectors; formulate and submit to the Prime Minister for approval the national program on gender equality in the 2011-2015 and 2016-2020 periods; formulate and organize the implementation of annual plans on gender equality in line with this strategy and the 2011-2020 strategy on socio-economic development; review for amendment or supplementation according to competence or proposal on amendment or supplementation to competent agencies laws and policies in accordance with the gender equality principles; guide, inspect and review the strategy implementation and periodically report it to the Prime Minister; conduct a preliminary review at the end of 2015 and the final review of the strategy implementation at the end of 2020.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and concerned ministries and sectors in, mobilizing official development assistance (ODA) sources for gender equality programs and projects; incorporate gender equality objectives and targets into annual and five-year socio-economic development plans at the national level; guide the inclusion of gender equality objectives and targets in the formulation and assessment of results of achievement of objectives and targets in socio-economic development strategies, planning and plans of sectors or localities.

3. The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment in, allocating budget funds, based on the state budget capacity, for implementation of gender equality programs and projects after they are approved; guide, inspect and examine the use of funds for the implementation of the approved gender equality programs and projects according to the Law on the State Budget and relevant laws.

4. The Ministry of Justice shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs as well as concerned ministries and sectors in, assessing the inclusion of gender equality issues in the drafting of legal documents related to gender equality or gender inequality or discrimination within the scope of regulation of such documents.

5. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee and concerned bodies in, formulating and submitting to the Government for promulgation, guidance and implementation organization regulations on planning and creation of female cadre sources and female percentages for appointment to positions in state agencies; scrutinize and propose competent bodies to amend, supplement, guide, and organize the implementation of, regulations on age ranges for appointment, training and retraining of female cadres, civil servants and public employees; guide ministries, sectors, provinces and centrally run cities in formulating annual plans on the payroll of civil servants for gender equality activities; assign the gender equality civil servant payroll after it is approved by the Prime Minister; and incorporate gender and gender equality knowledge into the training of cadres, civil servants and public employees.

6. The Ministry of Health shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, concerned ministries and sectors, Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee and provincial-level People’s Committees in, organizing the implementation of the 2011-2020 strategy on population and reproductive health after it is approved; and step up propaganda on warning and active control and removal of profound causes of gender imbalance among infants.

7. The Ministry of Education and Training shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and branches in, organizing the implementation of the 2011-2020 educational development strategy after it is approved; implement the contents of gender, sex, reproductive health and gender equality education for pupils and students; train teachers and lecturers in gender, sex, reproductive health and gender equality; and include gender equality issues in sectoral development planning and plans.

8. The Ministry of Information and Communications shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in, further guiding and directing mass media agencies in boosting and renewing activities of communication and education in the Party’s guideline and the State’s laws on gender equality; intensify inspections and examinations of activities of information, press and publication (including publishing, printing, distribution of publications), Internet information on gender equality and related to gender equality; and strictly handle acts of publishing publications and information products with gender bias contents.

9. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, concerned ministries and sectors, Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee and provincial-level People’s Committees in, organizing the implementation of the 2011-2020 strategy on Vietnamese family development after it is approved; map out and conduct intervention activities to prevent and control domestic violence; incorporate gender equality contents into cultural institutions towards abundant, equal, progressive, happy and sustainable families with few children.

10. The Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and sectors in, mapping out and conducting activities to prevent and control human trafficking.

11. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in, mapping out and directing scientific research into gender equality.

12. The Nationality Committee shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and concerned ministries and sectors in, organizing the propagation, dissemination, education and mobilization for the implementation of gender equality policy and law for ethnic minority people; formulate and submit to competent agencies for promulgation, guidance and implementation peculiar policies in support of gender equality activities in deep-lying, remote, ethnic minority regions and areas meeting with exceptional socio-economic difficulties; and mobilize ethnic minority people to promote their fine traditions, customs and practices for achieving the gender equality objectives.

13. Vietnam News Agency, the Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam Television and other mass media agencies shall increase the broadcasting time volumes or number of articles on, and raise the quality of propaganda on gender equality in their programs, special pages or columns.

14. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies shall, within the scope of their respective functions and assigned tasks, participate in the strategy implementation; formulate and organize the implementation of annual and five-year action plans for the strategy implementation; step up inter-sector coordination, especially in the incorporation of gender equality issues into planning and policymaking work; and inspect and evaluate the strategy implementation in their ministries or agencies.

15. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall organize the strategy implementation in their localities under the guidance of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs as well as functional ministries and sectors; formulate and realize annual and five-year action plans on gender equality in line with the 2011-2020 national strategy on gender equality and local socio-economic development plans in the same period; promote the creativeness and activeness in mobilizing resources for the strategy implementation; incorporate the effective implementation of this strategy into other relevant strategies in localities; arrange adequate gender equality cadres, civil servants and public employees in localities; step up inter-sector coordination, especially in the incorporation of gender equality issues into the formulation of local socio-economic development policies; regularly inspect the strategy implementation in localities; implement the regime of annual reporting on the strategy implementation in localities according to current regulations.

16. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee and their respective member organizations shall organize the strategy implementation within the scope of their respective functions and tasks; to step up propaganda and education in order to raise the awareness about gender equality in their respective organizations; to participate in the formulation of policies and laws on, and in the state management of, gender equality; to participate in supervising the implementation of law on gender equality; to study and arrange Women’s Union members to work as gender equality collaborators and propagators at the grassroots level.

Article 3. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 4. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, heads of concerned agencies or organizations and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall implement this Decision.